CANCER TREATMENTS: INTERNAL RADIOTHERAPY – CAESIUM OR IRIDIUM IMPLANTS

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CANCER TREATMENTS: INTERNAL RADIOTHERAPY – CAESIUM OR IRIDIUM IMPLANTS

If you are having internal radiotherapy, you will stay in hospital for your treatment. A fine needle, wire or tube carrying the radioactive “source” is placed into or next to the cancerous tissue under general anaesthetic, and remains in place until you have received the appropriate dose of radiation. After you have had the correct dose, which is tailored precisely to your particular circumstances, the implant is removed. The intention of the treatment is to administer the radiation to the cancerous tissue while causing as little damage as possible to the healthy tissue which surrounds it.

While you are having your treatment, the hospital will take precautions to avoid the possibility of exposing either your visitors or the Staff who are caring for you to radiation. You will probably be nursed in a side room, and lead screens may be placed around your bed to absorb any radiation given out. Nurses and doctors will only spend short periods at a time in your room, and your visitors may be restricted to short visits or asked to talk to you from outside.

These precautions may seem rather severe at a time when you need the support of family and friends more than usual. However, they should only be necessary for a short period, and only while your radioactive implant is in place. You may find it helps to distract yourself as much as possible by watching TV, reading or listening to the radio, for example. This may not be easy when you are worried and feeling under stress, but it is worth persevering as it will help to make your time in hospital pass more quickly.

Some people worry about the continuing risk of radiation after the treatment is over. Once the radioactive implant is removed, all radiation disappears. If your treatment is in the form of a radioactive liquid, then you may have to wait for some days for the radioactivity to lessen before you can leave. You and your belongings will be checked thoroughly to check you are free of radioactivity, and you will be advised of any precautions you should follow when you get home.

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